Former President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that one of the reasons some people are unwilling to take the COVID-19 vaccine is because they "don't trust the Election results" from November 2020.
The former president's comments come after President Joe Biden's administration failed to meet its vaccination goal to ensure 70% of the nation's adults receive at least one shot by July 4. Still, 161 million people are fully vaccinated and 68% of adults have received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Trump has touted his administration did a "great job" in regard to handling the coronavirus pandemic through programs like Operation Warp Speed, which saw vaccine development and disbursement happen in record time. While he has encouraged people to get vaccinated, a large group of his supporters has erred on the side of caution surrounding the COVID-19 jabs.
"Joe Biden kept talking about how good of a job he's doing on the distribution of the Vaccine ... He's not doing well at all," Trump wrote in a tweemail, adding, "He's way behind schedule, and people are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don't trust his Administration, they don't trust the Election results and they certainly don't trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth."
RISE IN COVID-19 INFECTIONS THREATENS UNVACCINATED AND SOME HOSPITALS
Since the election, the former president has repeated baseless allegations the 2020 election was stolen due to alleged widespread fraud, despite former Attorney General William Barr saying in December that the Justice Department found no evidence of extensive voter fraud that could have altered the election.
Nearly 56% of people who lean Republican said they planned to or had already received the vaccine, according to data collected by Pew Research in March. By comparison, Democrats were 27 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say they plan to receive the vaccine. The study issued questions to 10,121 panelists.
Despite Trump's positive view of vaccines, there appears to be a disconnect between his stance and others in the GOP in recent weeks.
During the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas this month, the crowd cheered when writer and speaker Alex Berenson said: "The government was hoping that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated, and it isn’t happening."
On July 11, House GOP freshman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted , "Thousands of people are reporting very serious life changing vaccine side effects from taking covid vaccines," telling followers to “just say NO!” to the vaccine. The post was later flagged by Twitter for being "misleading."
In April, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson asked why there was a "big push" by the Biden administration to get everyone vaccinated, adding, "I'm getting highly suspicious of what's happening here."
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The White House has acknowledged an apparent drop in the rate of vaccines being administered and is seeking to correct misinformation spread about the vaccines online, noting its outreach to popular platforms like Facebook.
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